Patients can request information about their care at any time — but do patients own their medical records? The question of ownership is more complex than you may think.
While medical records are about the patients, they’re produced, maintained, and stored by healthcare providers. This intricate dynamic raises several questions, including:
- Does the patient have the ultimate claim to ownership as the subject of information?
- Does the healthcare provider, having invested resources in compiling and managing these records, retain the rights?
- What can a healthcare organization charge patients to access medical records?
In this article, we’ll help you understand the ins and outs of medical record ownership and what it means for you. If you’d like to start requesting your medical records today, learn how we can help.
What Is a Medical Record?
A medical chart is a comprehensive record of a patient’s health history and clinical interactions that can help inform future treatment decisions and ensure continuity of care.
Here are some of the details you might find in a medical record:
- Health History: Details of a patient’s past and present health conditions, allergies, surgeries, and medication history.
- Diagnoses: Documentation of all diagnoses made during a patient’s health visit.
- Treatment Plans: Comprehensive information about treatment strategies, including medications prescribed, surgical procedures performed, and recommended therapies.
- Progress Notes: Observations and annotations made by healthcare professionals regarding a patient’s condition and response to treatment.
- Medical Test Results: Records of results from various blood tests, imaging studies, and pathology reports.
The significance of medical charts extends beyond individual patient care, medical research, and public health initiatives. Hence, medical record ownership has personal and industrial implications.
How Are Medical Records Created?
Before we explore medical record ownership, let’s discuss the process of creating medical records.
Creating a medical chart can be a collaborative effort involving many healthcare professionals who contribute data based on their interactions with the patient. This process can be simplified into 3 steps.
1: Initial Patient Consultation
The inception of a medical chart begins with the first encounter between a patient and their healthcare provider. During this stage, physicians record a patient’s chief complaints, medical history, and other relevant details.
Here is where the question, “Do patients own their medical records?” comes up again.
On one hand, the patient is the source of the information, but the physician compiles the records — suggesting a shared ownership. On the other hand, patients may argue that they have the sole ownership rights since the data pertains to their health.
2: Documentation of Treatment
Once a healthcare provider makes their initial assessment, they formulate a treatment plan, which they document in the medical record. This documentation includes the prescribed therapies, medications, and potential interventions a patient should expect.
In this case, medical record ownership can be more tricky to understand.
From the patient’s perspective, the treatment plan stems from their personalized needs. Considering the potential impact of medical records on their future care, patients may want ownership rights to maintain control.
3: Ongoing Updates
The medical chart is a dynamic document, constantly updated with the patient’s health status, response to treatment, and newly diagnosed conditions.
The physicians who record these updates may assert ownership over the medical records, considering the intellectual input and resources invested.
What Does the Law Say About Medical Record Ownership?
Patients and physicians can endlessly argue over medical record ownership, but regulations can conclude the debate.
According to J Law Med Ethics (2019), all 50 states in the U.S. agree that medical providers own paper and electronic medical records. Furthermore, 21 states have statutes explicitly confirming that providers own the data in addition to the records.
Limitations to ownership rights exist. For example, healthcare providers must comply with HIPAA guidelines and ethics governing patient privacy and protected health information (PHI) disclosure.
So, do patients own their medical records? According to most laws, no. However, they may still have control over what happens to their information.
Benefits of Owning Patient Medical Records
Owning medical records can bring various advantages, as it empowers patients and providers to take control of care coordination and nurture quality health outcomes.
1: Enhanced Patient Autonomy
Having access to medical records boosts patient autonomy. This can increase engagement in the healthcare journey and encourage a proactive approach towards health management.
Patients who understand their medical history, past treatments, and test results can work toward achieving better health outcomes.
2: Improved Patient-Physician Communication
Possession of medical records encourages better overall communication between providers and patients. Amending medical history, medications, allergies, and other vital information can help ensure precise and personalized care.
3: Continuity of Care
Owning medical records can significantly contribute to continuity of care, particularly when patients change healthcare providers or require care from different specialists.
When patients have access to medical records, they can share them directly with healthcare providers to save time and reduce the risk of missing or incorrect information.
How Do Patients Get Their Medical Records?
Navigating the process of accessing medical records can be challenging, but it can empower patients to take ownership of their healthcare data.
Let’s explore the steps one must take to request medical records legally:
1: Understanding Ownership Rights
The first step a patient must take to obtain medical records is understanding their ownership rights. These people are usually the first to ask, “Do patients own their medical records?”
Legislation like HIPAA grants patients the right to inspect and receive a copy of their medical records from most healthcare providers — despite not having direct ownership of these documents. HIPAA rights are subject to exceptions, such as information gathered for legal proceedings or specific psychiatric notes.
Understanding these rights can inform patients about what they can reasonably expect when requesting medical charts. In fact, privacy rules tend to lean in favor of the patient. Information blocking is prohibited outside specific exceptions.
2: Filing a Request
Patients must submit a signed request form to their healthcare provider to request medical records. Guardians, healthcare providers, third-party professionals, and others may also request a patient’s records.
Requests should include:
- The patient’s full name and contact information
- The type of records the patient wants to access
- The preferred format for the documents (electronic or paper)
- The date range for the records, if applicable
Some requests may take several days or weeks to complete, depending on the bandwidth of the provider’s workforce. Still, HIPAA rules dictate that a healthcare provider must respond to a request for information within 30 days or be subject to penalties.
3: Managing the Received Records
Once patients receive their medical records, they should carefully review the data for accuracy and request corrections to any inaccurate information.
It’s also crucial to secure these records and keep them safe from hackers. This is the most important step in building a personal health record that you can share with your healthcare providers.
Do Deceased Patients Own Their Medical Records?
When a patient passes away, the ownership of their medical records can become a complex issue. Generally, the deceased person does not retain ownership of their medical records. Instead, the healthcare provider remains the custodian of information, subject to specific legal and ethical obligations.
Relatives or the deceased’s legal representative may request access to these records. It’s important to note that laws may vary by state.
Need Help Getting Your Medical Records?
While patients may not technically own their medical records, you can still assume ownership by building a personal health record, or a complete collection of your entire medical history.
A personal health record can enhance your care by:
- Organizing medical information in one centralized location,
- Simplifying the process of sharing medical records with your providers,
- Reducing the risk of repeat testing or medical errors.
Whether you want to own a personal health record or just request a few medical records, find out how we can help.
